Maybe you’ve heard this tip before and you find it hard to believe, or maybe this is completely new for you. “Build muscle, lose fat” – can it really be that simple? Yes actually, it can.

You see, muscles require more energy for your body to maintain. And anything that requires energy means your body has to burn calories and extra fat in order to generate that energy.

A body which is made up of too much fat will not use as much energy though, because fat takes much less energy for the body to maintain than muscle does. So by simply strengthening and toning your muscles, you can force your body to start burning off more fat at a faster rate.

Now, many women in particular worry about building muscle to lose fat. For some reason, when they hear they need to start building muscle, they worry that they’ll end up looking like some kind of female body builder. Bulky, huge, and alien looking instead of slim, trim, fit, and attractive.

The reality though, is that you do not have to become bulky with muscles in order to lose the fat. All you need to do is make your existing muscles stronger and more toned. In other words: Get those muscles healthier and more in shape.

Depending on how much extra body fat you have – and regardless of whether you have fat on your tummy, arms, legs, butt, or otherwise – your muscles may be quite weak and in bad shape overall. And the weaker or flabbier those muscles are, the less energy they make your body use. So by toning them and making them stronger, you are automatically causing your body to start burning off more of the fat in order to maintain the healthier muscles.

There are also many ways to tone and strengthen your muscles which will keep them lean and sleek looking instead of causing them to bulk up. Weight lifting and resistance training works quite well for example, if you do not work out with massive amounts of weight or resistance. Toning your muscles just requires small amounts of weight, whereas building and bulking the muscles is done with large amounts of weight or resistance.

Using 5 lb weights on your ankles while walking for instance, is an excellent way to start toning them without adding bulk.

If you don’t like weights or resistance training though, don’t despair. Other types of exercise which tone your muscles while keeping them quite sleek and beautiful include swimming, dancing, and running.